Sabertooth's Scarlet Tiger
by Eagleblade
Summary: With Minerva's absence, Sting still needs someone to fill for her. When he decides Erza is the perfect candidate, how will she survive Sabertooth? Or, more importantly, how will Sabertooth survive her? Contains a rather uncommon pairing of Sting x Erza: StiRza?
1. Their Decisions

Something about his new guild didn't feel right - but Sting didn't know what it was. Was it the guild hall? No, the guild hall was fine. He went through several other causes in his head but couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"Rogue, does the guild not feel right to you?" he asked.

"No," Rogue answered impassively.

Sting was about to berate him for his emotions, or lack thereof, until Rogue added, "Unless you mean Minerva's absence."

That was it! The new Sabertooth still needed their tiger. But no way was he accepting that witch back! She took Lector hostage!

He went back to the Grand Magic Games and tried to find a feisty girl in each guild. Raven Tail had none. Mermaid Heel's Kagura was pretty tough, but she was too much like Rogue, and heaven knows that one Rogue is quite enough. Quatro Cerberus had none. That left Fairy Tail. What was the name of the redhead spitfire? Ezra? No, that didn't sound right.

"Rogue, what's the name of that redhead in Fairy Tail?" Sting questioned Rogue.

"Don't know, don't care."

Again, one Rogue was quite enough. Erza - that was it! She always stood out, especially with that red hair of hers. She defeated 100 monsters - she's tough. And when Minerva brutalized that blonde, Erza had the guts to stare him, the great Sting Eucliffe, down. And, though he'd never admit it publicly, she was kind of intimidating. Ha, and when she defeated Minerva, just icing on the cake.

But how was he going to get her in Sabertooth?

"Rogue, how do you get someone to transfer guilds?"

"You kidnap their Exceed and order them to transfer guilds or else," Rogue replied sarcastically.

"But what if they don't have an Exceed, unlike me?" Sting asked, actually considering it.

"I was joking."

"Oh."

* * *

"What?" Natsu roared. "You want Erza to go into Sabertooth? No way! Why don't you take Ice Princess here instead?!"

Gray stood up indignantly, clad only in his boxers. "What did you call me, Flame Brain?!" And then they got into a brawl that destroyed half the guild.

"I'll go."

Sting turned to Erza, who was sitting calmly on a bench, eating her strawberry cake. "What did you say?"

"I'll go. To show there aren't any hard feelings," she repeated.

Natsu and Gray stood up in unison. "What?! Erza! You can't!"

"Sit down!" she growled.

"Aye!" they yelped.

Sting took note of that. A woman who could make Natsu Dragneel cower in fear.

"It will be temporary, correct?" she asked.

"Of course," Sting replied. There was the chance that maybe she'll change her mind.

"Right," she said, nodding. "I better start packing."

Sting sat down and waited for her, ignoring the loud protests and insults sent his way.

A few moments later, Erza was back, with a large amount of luggage.

"Are you sure you need all this?" Sting asked, sweat-dropping.

"Of course. Is there a problem with it?" she asked menacingly.

"No, of course not," Sting replied quickly. Good thing he was alone - it wouldn't do to have the great Sting Eucliffe's reputation tarnished by anyone seeing that he was cowed.

"I'll be back soon," Erza called over her shoulder at her quiet guild-mates.

Secretly, Sting hoped that that wouldn't be true.


	2. Erza's Rampage

While they were on the train to Sabertooth, Erza was asking Sting questions about Sabertooth.

"Does it have its own dorm?" she shot at him.

Sting was trying very hard to battle his motion sickness. It didn't help that Erza kept asking him questions because he felt like he was going to vomit everytime he opened his mouth. "No." One-word answers were the most he could manage.

She settled back into her chair. "No matter. I will stay at Fairy Hills."

He was about to question if she could still stay there if she was technically no longer at Fairy Tail, but changed his mind. How could someone say no to her?

And then a gigantic wave of nausea hit him. Erza looked at him, recognizing the symptoms of motion sickness. "Come here," she commanded, patting the seat next to her.

Sting looked a bit suspicious, but complied nonetheless. The last thing he felt was an armored hand in his stomach before blackness stole over his vision.

* * *

Sting woke up when he felt someone shaking him. He groggily looked up at Erza, wondering where he was before he remembered. He was about to confront her about her undiplomatic approach to his motion sickness, but Erza cut him off with a simple "We're here."

When they arrived at the guild, everyone looked surprised to see her. "What is she doing here?" Rufus asked him.

"She'll be a stand-in for Minerva," he whispered back, afraid Erza would hear. Thankfully, she didn't. Rufus nodded.

Erza was seated at one of the tables eating her strawberry cake delicately. Where did she get strawberry cake? Sting wondered.

Orga came over. "What's that? Looks good." And then he grabbed her plate and gobbled it in one huge bite. Erza was twitching uncontrollably. When Orga let out a huge belch, that made her snap for some odd reason.

"NO ONE TOUCHES MY CAKE!" she thundered, requipping into her Heaven's Wheeler Armor. Orga grinned. "A fight?" he asked. "Just what I -" he didn't get to finish his sentence before Erza's blades barraged him relentlessly. Yes, he might have stood a chance against Erza, but Erza + eaten strawberry cake + Orga talking = Orga in the infirmary.

Rufus stared at her. "I will remember that for years to come."

Erza was still mad though - in fact, she's gone ballistic. "DID YOU CONSPIRE WITH HIM TO EAT MY STRAWBERRY CAKE?" she shrieked irrationally.

She lunged at poor Rufus, who did not know what he did. Of course, once a strawberry cake crisis happened with Erza present, no one was safe.

Sting and Rogue tried to pin her down as she struggled against them. Rogue was showing an emotion for once in his life. "Why did you bring her here?"

Sting shrugged. "To replace Minerva."

Ooh, that did it. "WHAT?" Erza roared. "YOU THOUGHT I WOULD BE A GOOD REPLACEMENT FOR THAT BACKSTABBING WITCH?!" Minerva's "defeat" of Kagura and abuse of Millianna was still fresh in her mind, even without the added strain of her poor, Orga-eaten strawberry cake.

Erza broke free and Sting found himself pinned to a wall with a hundred swords pointing at him. Rogue and Rufus lunged at her and brought her down, causing her blades to angle themselves at them instead of Sting.

"White Dragon's Roar!" yelled Sting.

Erza disappeared through a curtain of smoke, but, when the smoke cleared, he found her unharmed in a heavy blue armor - her adamantine armor.

Rogue hit her with his Shadow's Dragon Roar from behind her, but that dealt little to no damage. In the end, Erza was brought down by Sting's and Rogue's combined power, but not before the entire guild hall was pretty much demolished.

Rogue was back to his emotionless self, but not before one simple question. "What were you thinking?"

And Sting wondered: What _had_ he been thinking?

* * *

A/N: And there you have it! Thanks to AshNa and GlitterPrincess for reviewing, and everyone else for favoriting or following! I appreciate the support!


	3. Sting's Offer

Things have been a bit quieter than normal ever since Orga ate Erza's strawberry cake. Oh, Sabertooth was certainly no Fairy Tail, but things have been quiet even for them. Of course, that might be because of the lack of Orga's activities, and he was the life of the party. No, poor Orga was still lying in the infirmary covered in enough bandages for someone to mistake him for a mummy.

Sting sighed. At least Minerva didn't put people in the infirmary and destroy the entire guild hall over a single slice of strawberry cake.

"Rogue," Sting ordered, "come here."

Rogue refused. "No, you come here."

Sting sighed and gave in. "I want you to go to Fairy Tail and ask Natsu and Gray for a list of Things to Not Do Around Erza. I'm not sure I have enough jewels to cover another guild hall repair."

"Why don't you do it?"

"Because I don't have time for such trivial errands," Sting boasted importantly.

"Then why did you go to fetch Erza? I could have done that."

"Because it is a guild master's responsibility to welcome new members of the guild," he blustered.

"She wasn't even a member yet."

Sting sighed. "Just . . . go."

Rogue finally complied.

* * *

"Sting needs a list of Things to Not Do Around Erza," Rogue recited with no emotions evident.

Natsu grinned. "Sure! I'm all fired up!" And he dragged Rogue to his house where he presented a Movie Lacrima."

"Number One: Never fight around Erza," Natsu said. The lacrima replayed times when he and Gray got beaten up by Erza for fighting. "Why aren't you writing it down?" Natsu asked, glancing at a bored Rogue.

"Why aren't _you _writing it down?" Rogue countered.

"Because . . . I'm not fired up about writing."

Rogue sighed and started writing.

"Number two: Never challenge Erza to a fight." Rogue was showed a scene of when Natsu challenged Erza to a fight and got beaten up badly. "Number three: Never strip around Erza."

Rogue sighed again. _This is going to be very uninteresting. _

* * *

Meanwhile, Sting was trying to force his status upon Erza. "I am Sabertooth's guild master!" he shouted.

Erza sipped her tea. "And your point is?"

"You have to listen to me about not putting any of our members in the infirmary."

"Because?"

"Would you disobey your Master Makarov?" Sting tried.

"That depends on the order he gave me. Besides, he's Fairy Tail's guild master, not Sabertooth's." Erza was deliberately giving Sting a hard time.

"But, right now," Sting said, exasperated, "you're in Sabertooth, and you have to listen to me."

"But I don't even have Sabertooth's stamp," Erza pointed out.

Oh. Sting had forgotten about that. "Yukino!"

Yukino hurried over and whipped out the guild's stamp. "Where do you want it, Erza? And what color?"

"The middle of my right upper arm, blue." It was the exact same spot as her Fairy Tail mark, only on a different arm.

"Oh, and Sting requires that you cover up any other allegiances while you're at Sabertooth," Yukino said apologetically. She tied a length of fabric around Erza's fairy tail guild mark. "Sorry."

"It's alright, Yukino," Erza said kindly. Then her eyes blazed as she looked at Sting. "But I can't say the same for him."

Sting gulped silently.

"You must prove your mettle to me before I listen to you at all," Erza continued.

"And how would I do that?" Sting asked. "Does my name not already make you awestruck at the sheer splendor of it?" Sting admitted that he was laying it on a bit thick - although it was true, he insisted - but he had to impose his status on her.

"I am not impressed," Erza said simply.

"I will relinquish my status as guild master to Rogue for a day, to prove my generosity and willingness to part with a high status for the better of my comrades in general."

The "better for my comrades" part was basically "so you don't go on another rampage and land another guild member in the infirmary".

Erza shook her head. "No."

"Fine," Sting growled. "I'll fight you."

A slow grin spread over Erza's face. "Deal."

* * *

A/N: And there's another chapter. Please review with suggestions on who the fight should go to. Thanks to Chubbykins for reviewing!


	4. Sting vs Erza

For some reason, Rogue couldn't fall asleep. He wanted to during the hour-long movie marathon with Natsu on: What Not To Do Around Erza. It was one thing that Natsu was knowledgeable in.

"And that's about it," finished Natsu. "See ya."

"See . . . you," replied Rogue.

Holding a list of Things not to do around Erza that trailed to the floor, Rogue began his journey back to Sabertooth.

* * *

Rogue came back to a hushed guild. "What is it?" he asked a wide-eyed Lector.

"S-Sting-kun challenged E-Erza-san to a f-f-fight!" stammered a nervous Lector. It had only been two or three days, and Lector was already adding "-san" to Erza's name. That showed the extent of his respect for her.

Rogue shook his head at his friend. Sting was powerful, but he was sometimes as idiotic as that Salamander - which is saying a lot. Erza could beat Natsu, who could beat Sting - who is so very, very dead.

Oh well.

And then Lector's eyes cleared. "Sting-kun is strong!" he declared. "Sting-kun can beat her!"

Frosh nodded in agreement. "Fro thinks so too!"

Rogue couldn't help smiling a tiny bit. "When's the fight?"

Lector smiled. "Tomorrow morning! Everyone's coming to watch!" he gushed.

_I guess it's time to plan his funeral_, Rogue sighed inwardly. _I wonder what kind of tombstone he likes? _

* * *

Erza and Sting stood facing off each other outside of the guild with everyone present. Within moments, Erza requipped to her Morning Star armor. "Phonton Slicer!" she shouted, her blades releasing an orb of energy toward Sting.

Sting's eyes narrowed and he dodged her attack, an explosion sounding behind him somewhere in the distance. "White Dragon's Roar!" he retaliated, a laser-like Roar exiting his mouth and making its way toward Erza.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Erza jumped out of its way and dove towards Sting. She quickly executed a series of lightning-fast sword strikes, which Sting narrowly dodged.

"Requip: Lightning Empress Armor!" Erza requipped into said armor and quickly attacked with a "Lightning Beam" followed by a "Lightning Cyclotron".

Sting dodged the Lightning Beam by jumping up into the air, but the Lightning Cyclotron caught him, causing him to plummet to the ground.

"Sting-kun!" yelled Lector.

He stood up wiping his mouth with minimal damage, grinning Lector's way.

"Now it's my turn!" he announced. "White Dragon's Holy Breath!" The attack appeared to have caught Erza off guard, but, moments later, she was seen unscathed clad in her Adamantine Armor.

"Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor! Blumenblatt!" Erza sliced at him with her twin blades, missing. Sting grinned triumphantly, but the grin was wiped from his face moments later when the mass of swords she summoned flew at him, injuring him even more, though he managed to dodge quite a few.

"Come on, Sting!" Orga bellowed. He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, but he had refused to miss this match.

Using her telekinesis, Erza recovered her swords. "Dance my blades," she murmured, causing her swords to spin rapidly around her. "Circle Sword!" The swords dove at Sting, and he was unable to dodge them because he was just recovering.

Yukino buried her face in her hands.

"Trinity sword!" Erza cried. She sliced at Sting in a delta formation, wounding him. "Pentagram sword!" This attack also hit him.

Sting fell to the ground, causing Lector to cry out. He rose unsteadily to his feet. "Now it's time to get serious," he said grimly. "Dragon Force!" He reverted to a more powerful form, and he quickly followed through with his White Drive.

Lector hurriedly wiped his tears away. "Now Sting-kun can't lose!" he declared.

"Fro thinks so too!" Fro cried happily.

Rogue thought Sting had a fair chance of winning, but an equal amount of losing. _Don't fail me, Sting. _

"No more messing around," Sting stated.

"Oh?" questioned Erza, one eyebrow raised. "Requip: Black Wing Armor - Moon Flash!" However, the spot where Sting had been two seconds before was now empty.

"White Dragon's Punch!" Erza gasped as Sting hit her with a quick barrage of magic-enhanced punches. She didn't have time to requip to a more defensive armor before Sting followed through with another attack. "White Dragon's Claw!"

The orb of light he gathered around his hand struck Erza square in the stomach and left the familiar stigma that was once branded on Natsu's stomach.

Erza had barely recovered from the burst of pain when she found out that she could barely move. "What?"

Sting wasted no time - he wasn't going to pass up a chance to top her. "Holy Blast!" The ball of light generated by Sting relentlessly hit a defenseless Erza, sending her sprawling a few feet back from her original position.

"Holy Ray!" Sting joined his palms together, each finger touching the corresponding finger on the other hand. He released his hands. A large disc formed, with several streaks of light bombarding Erza.

Lector and Frosch cheered, and Rogue smirked. Sabertooth rejoiced - but they did it too early.

Erza shakily rose from the ground. "I . . . now . . . remember," she panted. "This . . . stigma . . . is not . . . invulnerable . . . to fire, as . . . Natsu proved. Requip - Flame Empress Armor!" The familiar light engulfed her and she stood stoically clad in a red, orange, and black costume with her hair in two ponytails.

"Flame Slash!" Her sword was now surrounded with fire, and she pressed the blade to her own stomach, wincing slightly as the hot surface made contact with her skin. The stigma burned away.

Sting was now worried. He didn't know that she still remembered. Sabertooth was now quiet.

"Requip - Flight Armor!" In a bright flash, Erza was now dressed in a purple and cheetah print outfit. "Sonic Claw!" She dashed toward Sting, and, suddenly, there were swords coming at him from every direction. He was cornered and could do nothing except endure the blows. When Erza finally jumped back, Sting swayed, and fell to the ground.

All was silent until Sting climbed up again. "I'm out of options," he breathed, his voice barely audible. "My last choice: Holy Nova!" With the last of Magic Power, Sting let loose the powerful attack.

Erza was completely unprepared, and the blow struck her down. However, she was smiling as she stood with a little effort. "You underestimate me, Sting," she said. "Natsu is very close to my level, and he will one day surpass me. But that day has not arrived, and his power still has not arrived at my level. You are foolish to try to defeat me the same way you tried to defeat Natsu. Let me end this, once and for all!"

She was suddenly dressed in a pink armor as she rushed at Sting. "Fairy Piercing Sword!" Her matching sword was full of crackling energy as it was thrust toward a weakened Sting.

There was no doubt who would win this battle. The realization of it struck the members of Sabertooth. There was never any doubt from the beginning, though they tried to play it down. A woman who could defeat Minerva could defeat Sting.

The undeniable winner was Erza. Lector buried his face in his arms. Sting-kun was getting defeated so many times!

* * *

A/N: Sorry if the fight wasn't that good. It's my first detailed fight scene.


	5. The Quest

Erza had become more compliant despite the fact that it was she who had won the brawl between her and Sting, as if she respected his valiant efforts to try and defeat her.

She was eating a slice of strawberry cake at the table, which Orga was careful to stay away from lest he give in to the temptation of the fruity vanilla goodness - he already knew how that turned out.

Sting plopped down on the seat next to her, with a bandage or two still marking the fight that had occurred only a few days ago. "Erza," he said. "You've been in this guild for more than a week - enough time to settle in."

Erza waited for him to make his point.

"It's due time for you to go on a quest - and it would be best if you picked an easy one."

Erza snorted. "You think I can't take care of myself? Have I not proved myself to you?" Without waiting for an answer, she trudged over to the neat stack of missions on the counter - so different from the messy bulletin board at Fairy Tail - and inspected the pile.

"What's the hardest job you've got, Yukino?" she asked the white-haired girl behind the counter.

Yukino chewed her lip. "Hmm, that's a bit hard, Erza-san. There's this one . . ."

Erza surveyed the paper. "Ridding a town of a monster - that's common."

"Ooh, there's this one!" Yukino proudly held up another one. "I think this is the hardest one we've got, Erza-san!"

She grabbed it and quickly glossed over it. "The Reborn Oracion Seis has escaped from prison and risen again." She shook her head. "The incompetency of those Magic Council guards!

"I'll take it!"

Sting stopped her. "You can't!" he said.

"And why not?"

"Because . . ." Sting stammered, his mind going blank.

"That's right," she confirmed smugly. "You can't think of a good reason."

Rogue came to Sting's rescue. "Actually, the requirement for the quest is three S-class mages . . . along with another normal mage."

Erza's face fell, and Sting, for some reason, didn't want her to feel disappointed. "I'll go - a guild master is worth two S-class mages," he told them smugly, "and you, Erza - you're an S-class mage . . ."

"And that one normal one?" The way her face lit up made Sting feel happy inside.

"Rogue - will you go?" Sting asked.

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "No. I'm busy."

"Doing what?" Sting countered.

"Stuff . . ."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Stuff like upholding my reputation by not hanging out with losers," Rogue snapped.

"Well then," Erza cut in. "That's good, because Sting and I certainly aren't losers." Then she grabbed Rogue into a headlock and dragged him out of the guild.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sting called after them, running to catch up.

"To go on the job!" Erza cried in reply.

Rogue let out a muffled protest that sounded something like, "But we haven't prepared yet!"

"Don't worry," she assured him, "we'll be fine. I don't just requip armors, you know."

As if to prove her point, a large wagon filled with baggage appeared behind her. Erza finally freed Rogue, who gasped in the air.

And then the trio set off, the Twin Dragon Slayers and Titania, not knowing that what they'll face was much more than they could handle.


	6. I See You

Sting and Rogue were each hanging out a window, their faces blanched. The vehicle bounced along the bumpy road, using up more and more of Erza's magic with each rattle and clatter.

Sting felt the undeniable urge of his upset stomach, but he couldn't relieve himself of the feeling no matter how hard he tried. As for Rogue, if he thought he wanted to fall asleep during Natsu's lecture, then he wanted to _die _right about now.

They were so preoccupied with battling the feeling of throwing up that they didn't notice that the vehicle had stopped, and that Erza was coming up along behind him. Then, an armored hand each made contact with their heads, and they collapsed, each with a growing bruise on his head.

Erza tiredly clambered onto the vehicle again, her magic almost spent. The twin Dragon Slayers would be of as much use to her motion-sick as unconscious, and she chose unconsciousness.

And as she willed her magic to fuel the rickety car, she didn't feel the fact that someone was watching her.

* * *

"So," purred Midnight as he watched the Sabertooth members approach from inside his crystal globe, a new trinket he acquired from a recent village tribute, "my dear old friend Erza has come to fight me again, hmm? And what's this? She's brought friends?"

He examined the two males inside the vehicle, one blonde and one black-haired. "I believe I've heard of them," Erigor said from the shadows. "The Twin Dragon Slayers - formidable for the average mage, nothing but practice for us."

Cobra hissed impatiently. "Well, what are we waiting for? They're easy prey, with two unconscious and one drained of magic."

"I agree," added Racer.

"Patience," Angel whispered. "Our master will tell us when the time has come."

"Thank you, Angel," replied Midnight. "And I hope it will appease you that the time will come very soon . . ."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all your motivation and support! That's what led me to updating two chapters in as many days!


	7. Author's Note

ON HIATUS FOR A FEW . . . TIME UNITS! I WILL BE WORKING ON MY NEW FANFIC TITLED "SABERTOOTH!" I REALLY NEED TO STOP SPEAKING IN CAPS!

Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Eagleblade


End file.
